1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a clamping apparatus for clamping work pieces onto a work table such as a woodworking bench or work table of a machine tool.
2. Prior Art
Many clamping devices are available for woodworking, such as the common woodworking vise secured to a front edge of a work bench. Whilst the vise is probably one of the more useful fixed clamping devices, it has many limitations, particularly when clamping large items beyond the capacity of the vise. To the inventor's knowledge, there are only a few common methods of clamping a work piece onto a horizontal working surface of the bench, and commonly these devices are limited in their application, both for the size of the work piece and the size of the bench. Whilst G-clamps are effective for some applications, they are limited in their ability to clamp an item remote from edges of the work bench due to insufficient reach or throat of the clamp. Thus, if an item is to be clamped remote from edges of the work bench, difficulty can be encountered unless the item can be screwed or secured by other means to the work bench, which would tend to deface the item. Furthermore, with clamping devices using screw threaded members, such as vises and G-clamps, unless thread disengaging means are employed, considerable time can be spent rotating the threaded member to adjust the clamping device from one extreme size to the opposite extreme size.